Sources — Dodgers free agent Snell reaches 5-year, $182M deal

Left-hander Blake Snell and the Los Angeles Dodgers have agreed to terms on a five-year, $182 million contract pending a physical, sources told ESPN Tuesday night.

For the Dodgers, Snell gives the World Series champions a front-line starter for their title defense next season after they survived October by relying heavily on their bullpen with just three healthy starters. For Snell, the pact marks a much quicker and more satisfying end to his second stint as a free agent.

The $182 million contract is the third-largest for a left-handed pitcher in major league history based on total value, trailing only David Price’s with the Boston Red Sox in 2015 ($217 million) and Clayton Kershaw’s with the Dodgers in 2014 ($215 million).

And for the Dodgers, it’s another huge deal for a free agent. They have now handed out five contracts worth at least $100 million since the start of the 2023-24 offseason — the same number as the rest of MLB combined.

Snell, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, opted out of the final season of his two-year, $62 million deal with the San Francisco Giants on Nov. 1 to become a free agent for the second draft of the offseason.

He joins the Giants’ archrival in Southern California and a rotation that, on paper, is loaded for 2025. As it stands, the Dodgers boast Snell, Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow, plus Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, Bobby Miller and Kershaw – if, as expected, he were to sign a contract with the club again – as options to round out the group. The Dodgers are also among the leading candidates to sign Japanese right-hander Roki Sasaki, who is expected to be posted this winter.

Snell was the National League’s Cy Young Award winner with the San Diego Padres in 2023 — five years after winning the American League honor with the Tampa Bay Rays — but his market never materialized to his liking. Concerns about inconsistent pitching caused his offer to fall short of the six-year, $162 million contract previously earned by another power hitter in Carlos Rodon.

He instead joined the Giants in late March, where he missed most of spring training and struggled mightily at the start of the 2024 season. Six starts, Snell had a 9.51 ERA and was headed to the disabled list for the second time with a groin strain. Upon his return, Snell performed as one of the game’s best pitchers, finishing 5-3 with a 3.12 ERA and 145 strikeouts (and only 44 walks) in 104 innings over 20 starts, making his decision to opt out a no – no brainer.

In 14 starts from early July to late September, the 31-year-old left-hander posted a 1.23 ERA with 114 strikeouts and 30 walks in 80⅓ innings. On August 2, he threw a no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds. In eight other instances, he went at least six innings and allowed no more than two runs.

He was sidelined between April 19 and May 22 with a strained left adductor and between June 2 and July 9 with a strained left groin.

Snell took the league by storm with the Rays in 2018, leading the majors with 21 wins and pacing the AL with a 1.89 ERA. He was solid over the ensuing four years, consistently missing at-bats at an elite level, but his ERA jumped to 3.85 during that stretch.

Overall, he is 76-58 with a 3.19 ERA in nine MLB seasons.

The only pitcher in the majors over the past two seasons with at least 250 innings and a lower ERA than Snell is the Detroit Tigers’ Tarik Skubal.

ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez, ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.